This is what has been done to improve SEND services in Lancashire after damning Ofsted report

Lancashire County Council says it has brought in agency back-up and recruited extra staff of its own to speed up the issuing of education, health and care plans (EHCPs).

Delays in processing the personalised documents – which set out what must be done to help special needs pupils access education – were highlighted in a damning Ofsted report published in February into SEND services in the county council area.

It found that there were significant hold-ups in the EHCP application process, especially in relation to the annual reviews that should be carried out to ensure the plans are still sufficient in each child’s case – some of which were years overdue.

In response to the broader “systemic” failings identified by Ofsted, Lancashire County Council and the NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board drew up an action plan.

As revealed by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) in April, that document set out a series of commitments – amongst them the recruitment of five extra educational psychologists, the specialists whose input into EHCPs is vital.

In an update to a meeting of the full council, cabinet member for education and skills Matthew Salter said a number of the new posts had already been filled, but added that some existing staff had also left the service. He did not provide a net figure for the increase, but the LDRS has requested the details.

However, County Cllr Salter also revealed that the authority had enlisted three agencies to provide what he described as “2,400 educational psychologist advices” over the next year to help “manage the [EHCP] waiting list and the demand for new EHCPs that is coming through”.

A new portal for use by families awaiting new or updated EHCPs is set to be rolled out from September, to provide “access to information…in relation to the statutory assessment process and…opportunities for communication…between the family and the county council”.

Initial EHCPs should be produced within 20 weeks of an application being submitted – and a review of the plan should then happen each year.

Within 12 months of the last review taking place – and no longer than four weeks after the meeting to discuss the latest reassessment – the local authority should decide whether to maintain, amend or cease an EHCP.

County Cllr Salter said the findings of several sessions already held to examine the EHCP process in Lancashire will be published in the coming weeks, which will help the county council to “understand areas primed for improvement, [which] could include process, people or technology”.

There has been a nationwide surge in demand for EHCPs, with the number issued by Lancashire County Council – which does not cover the standalone Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen council areas – more than doubling from 5,200 in 2015/16 to 12,200 as of January this year.

He added that a newly-refreshed parent carer forum (PCF) would also play “a very important role…because we need to rebuild trust…and improve communications with families of children with SEND”.

He said that Reform UK – which took control of County Hall in May – had made SEND improvements a “top priority” – and committed to working cross-party to put the service back on a good footing.

Labour opposition member Samara Barnes welcomed that commitment – but said it was important for the PCF to be invited to county council scrutiny meetings “every single time” SEND was going to be on the agenda.